Manipulator for rolled stock



l. L. zAJATs 3,291,322

MANIPULATOR FOR ROLLED STOCK 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 13, 1966 Filed May 7,1964 United States Patent Ofiice 3,291,322 MANIPULATOR FOR ROLLED STOCKIosif Lvovich Zajats, Elektrostal, U.S.S.R., assignor to Elelrtrostalskyordena Lenina Zavod tjazhelogo Machinostroenia, Elektrostal, U.S.S.R.

Filed May 7, 1964, Ser. No. 365,732 7 Claims. (Cl. 2141) The presentinvention relates to manipulators for turning stock during rolling inrolling mills and particularly in roughing stands. During the rolling ofmetal it is often required to turn the stock by being rolled about itslongitudinal axis (usually 90) so :as to ensure delivery of the stock tothe rolls in the proper position.

A large number of manipulators of various designs for rolled stock isknown. In roughing stands, where it is required to turn short stock withrelatively large cross sections, primarily rectangular sections, aso-called fingerlift is utilized which accomplishes the turning bylifting one of the sides of the rolled stock with the aid of fingers.Here the stock is tilted about one of its edges, and thus turned 90.With the lengthening of the stock and corresponding reduction of itscross section, the reliability and effectiveness of this method ofturning decreases, and i at a definite ratio of the cross section of therolled stock to its length, the use of the finger lift becomesimpossible.

For such conditions of operation a large number of manipulator designs,based on the principle of grip turning, are known. The working elementsof such manipulators effect the turning by gripping the rolled stock andturning it about its longitudinal axis.

The known grip turning manipulators have a disadvantage that not onlythe turning parts (tongs, rollers, heads), but part of the transfer anddriving elements as well, undergo a rotary, or nearly rotary motion,together with the gripped stock being turned about the longitudinal axisof the latter, thereby requiring a considerable space in front of theroll stand serviced by the manipulator.

As a result of the above deficiency, manipulators of this type have acomplicated design and are considerably oversized.

The inventor has established that the overall size can be considerablyreduced and reliability and higher speed of turning attained if theturning of the gripped stock is effected by rotating substantiallycylindrical turning rollers about respective axes which are inclinedrelative to the axes of said rollers whereby rolled stock between therollers, and in contact therewith, is rotated about its longitudinalaxis upon rotation of the rollers about said inclined axes.

Inasmuch as the turning rollers, which grip the stock, turn it withoutrotating about the axis of the stock and pass line, it is obvious thatthe space occupied by the manipulator in front of the roll stand will bethe smallest possible.

It is an object of the invention to provide a manipulator for rolledstock which will ensure reliable turning of such stock through angles ofup to 90, said stock having a large ratio of length to cross sectionarea, and thereby not being able to be turned by the usual finger lift(main) manipulator when rolled on roughing mill.

A further object of the invention is to use this manipulator inassociation with the usual finger lift or main manipulator of theroughing mill, so that the turning of short rolled stocks as receivedfrom the first passes is accomplished by the fingers and turning of thelong rolled stocks as received from subsequent passes, which can nolonger be turned by the finger lift (main) manipulator, is carried outby the manipulator in accordance with this invention which is built-inin the side guard. In this case the range of stocks of various sectionsrolled on the mill is 3,291,322 Patented Dec. 13, 1966 considerablyincreased while the production potentialities of the mill are alsoincreased.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a manipulator ofsuch a design in which the edges of two stock gripping members remainsubstantially parallel when considerable changes in the cross sectionsof rolled stock take place.

This is attained through the use of shafts, carrying the turningelements, which may be of great length without impairing the compactnessor increasing the overall dimensions of the manipulator since the aboveshafts do not rotate together with the gripped stock about itslongitudinal axis.

It is yet a further object of the invention to provide turning elementsin the form of profiled rollers, the design of which will assuresimplicity of their manufacture and convenience in replacing them inworking conditions.

This object is attained by making said profiled rollers from sets ofthin substantially cylindrical disks fixed on the shaft in such mannerthat each subsequent disk in the set is spaced with respect to theprevious one by an amount equal to the thickness of a disk so that thedisks .abut one another.

The above and further objects and advantages of the invention willbecome apparent from the following description of a manipulator which isillustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross section of a roughing mill table showingdiagrammatically a preferred embodiment of the manipulator according tothe invention mounted on the end face of the side guard.

FIG. 2 is a section taken along line IIII of the manipulator of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3a is a perspective view of the manipulator shaft showing in detailthe construction of the turning roller.

FIG. 3b shows the shaft and the turning roller of FIG. 3a with some ofthe disks removed.

FIG. 4-7 are fragmentary diagrammatic views showing four successivepositions of the rollers and stock of rectangular section in the processof turning.

Two shafts 1, located in the vertical plane perpendicular to thelongitudinal axis of the stock being rolled, carry rollers 2 fixedly ontheir ends. The shape of such rollers corresponds to a geometrical bodyformed by cutting a substantially circular cylinder with planes parallelto the base into a large number of extremely thin layers. The axes ofthe roller bores are perpendicular to the bases and intersect the endplanes of each roller near the diametrically opposed edges of these endplanes. The generatrices of the cylindrical rollers 2 are inclined withrespect to the axes of shafts 1 and thereby with respect to the axes ofrotation of the rollers.

The rollers may be either of solid one-piece con struction, or may bebuilt up of a set of thin substantially cylindrical disks fixed on eachshaft in abutting relation with one another as is evident in FIGS. l3.

When the manipulator is in its operating position, i.e. during turning,shafts 1 are substantially parallel to one another and are inclined tothe horizontal at an angle of 45. At the same time, rollers 2 mounted onthe ends of shafts 1 align on the same level as the rolled stock 3 inposition on the roughing mill roll table 4-, their location being suchthat the side surfaces of two rollers 2 respectively contact the top andbottom surfaces of the stock 3 being rolled. FIGS. 4, 5, 6 and 7 showthat when shafts 1 are parallel to each other the surfaces of rollers 2will also be parallel and straight.

Further, FIGURES 4, 5, 6 and 7 show that the side surfaces of rollers 2remain mutually parallel and straight in any intermediate positionduring rotation of shafts 1 in opposite directions at the same angularspeed.

The mutually opposite rotation is imparted to the shafts 1 from anelectric motor, not shown on the drawing, through a common reducer 5,which assures the required coordination of speeds and directions ofrotation of both shafts. The drive is transmitted from reducer 5 toshafts 1 through two separate bevel gearings 6 and 7 mounted togetherwith the shafts in pivotally fixed housings 8.

- Due to the pivoted fixing of housings 8 having the builtin shafts 1which carry on their outer ends rollers 2, the housings 8 can swing inthe vertical plane about the axis of driving bevel gear 6, hence theangle of inclination of shaft 1 with respect to the horizontal may vary,changing accordingly the location of rollers 2 with respect to the leadof the roll table.

In order to attain such movement, each driving bevel gear 6 of eachhousing 8 is designed so that the outer cylindrical surface of its hubserve as its bearing trunnions, with the aid of which the gear ismounted in housing 8 and the center inner bore i used, firstly forpivoted fixing of the housing, and, secondly, for connecting bevelgearings 6 and 7 with the drive for rotating the rollers.

With the aid of a pneumatic, or other suitable drive 9 and lever system10, which links the two pivotally fixed housings 8, and a movableelement of pneumatic drive 9, rollers 2 are moved toward one another,which assures steady gripping of the rolled stock 3 by rollers 2 duringthe entire proces of turning. The drive 9 is .also effective for movingof rollers 2 away from one another to bring them out of the zone ofrolled stock movement, which in turn ensures shifting of the manipulatorto the disengaged position. The disengaged position of the rollers isshown in FIG. 1 in dotted outline.

A suitable control system of the pneumatic drive 9 assure the fixedposition of rollers 2 also when the .grip is released and the gapbetween rollers 2 is slightly increased for free delivery of the turnedstock 3 to the rolls of the roughing stand.

The manipulator is installed on the side guard 11, at the rear endthereof, i.e. at the end remote from the mill. In this case, theswinging housings 8 are disposed beyond the side guard 11 above themiddle of the space between the two adjacent rollers of the roll table4, so as to permit lowering of a roller 2 below the level of the rolltable 4.

This embodiment is preferred in case the manipulator of this inventionis used in conjunction with the finger lift or main manipulator on themill. The installation of said additional manipulator on the old sideguards requires practically no reconstruction of the mill and permitsincreased production capability of the mill.

The manipulator permits the use of practically an unlimited ratio of thelength of shaft 1, carrying the turning rollers 2, to the cross-sectionof the rolled stock 3, and 7 this in turn makes the deviations fromparallelism of the turning surfaces of rollers 2 quite imperceptiblewhen considerable changes in the cross sections of rolled stocks takeplace.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been described and is shownin the accompanying drawings, but it should be understood that otherembodiments based on the spirit of this invention are possible asdefined by the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. A manipulator for rolled stock adapted for being mounted on the sideguard of a roughing mill, said manipulator comprising a pair of spacedrollers having cylindrical surfaces adapted to engage opposite sides ofrolled stock passing there-between, the said rollers being mounted forrotation about parallel axes inclined relative to the generatrices ofthe surfaces of said rollers, whereby the rolled stock passing betweenthe rollers in contact therewith is rotated about its longitudinal axisduring rotation of said rollers, means for rotating said rollers abouttheir longitudinal axes in opposite directions at the same angularspeed, and means for swinging said rollers between an operative positionfor gripping said stock and in inoperative position for releasing therolled stock.

2. A manipulator for rolled stock according to claim 1, wherein themeans for rotating the rollers includes rotatable shafts supporting therollers, said shafts in said operative position having a 45 inclinationwith respect to the horizontal and the rollers are aligned at the levelof the stock being rolled.

3. A manipulator for rolled stock comprising a pair of rollers eachincluding a plurality of adjacent disks defining a cylindrical surface,a rotatable shaft for each roller supporting the disks thereof forcommon rotation such that the longitudinal axis of the shaft passesadjacent diametrically opposite edges of the roller at their end facesand extends substantially perpendicular to such end faces, drive meansfor rotating said shafts about their longitudinal axes, two pivotallymounted housings supporting a respective shaft and the drive meanstherefor, a lever system and rods, linking said housings to permitswinging of the housings for moving said shafts toward and away fromeach other.

4. A manipulator for rolled stock according to claim 3, in which saidcylindrical disks are fixed on the respective shafts in abuttingrelation.

5. A manipulator for rolled stock as claimed in claim 3, wherein saiddrive means comprises bevel gearing in said housing.

6. A method of turning rolled stock comprising clamping rolled stockbetween two parallel members having cylindrical surfaces, and rotatingsaid members in opposite directions at substantially equal speeds eachabout an axis inclined relative to said surfaces to thereby rotate thesurfaces in parallel relation with the stock therebetween.

7. Apparatus for rotating rolled stock comprising a pair of parallelsubstantially cylindrical members in spaced relation adapted forclamping rolled stock therebetween, and means for rotating said membersin opposite direction at equal speeds about parallel axes which areinclined with respect to the axes of the cylindrical members to changethe orientation of said members and thereby turn the rolled stockclamped therebetween.

No references cited.

CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner.

H. D. HOINKES, Assistant Examiner.

1. A MANIPULATOR FOR ROLLED STOCK ADAPTED FOR BEING MOUNTED ON THE SIDEGUARD OF A ROUGHING MILL, SAID MANIPULATOR COMPRISING A PAIR OF SPACEDROLLERS HAVING CYLINDRICAL SURFACES ADAPTED TO ENGAGE OPPOSITE SIDES OFROLLED STOCK PASSING THEREBETWEEN, THE SAID ROLLERS BEING MOUNTED FORROTATION ABOUT PARALLEL AXES INCLINED RELATIVE TO THE GENERATRICES OFTHE SURFACES OF SAID ROLLERS, WHEREBY THE ROLLED STOCK PASSING BETWEENTHE ROLLERS IN CONTACT THEREWITH IS ROTATED ABOUT ITS LONGITUDINAL AXISDURING ROTATION OF SAID ROLLERS, MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID ROLLERS ABOUTTHEIR LONGITUDINAL AXES IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS AT THE SAME ANGULARSPEED, AND MEANS FOR SWINGING SAID ROLLERS BETWEEN AN OPERATIVE POSITIONFOR GRIPPING SAID STOCK AND IN INOPERATIVE POSITION FOR RELEASING THEROLLED STOCK.